Wondering what's driving the rental housing boom in the Twin Cities, and whether there's enough demand to soak up the thousands of new apartments that are being built?
At Perspective 2015, an annual half-day seminar presented this week by the Minnesota Multi Housing Association, keynote speaker Jim Glassman was unabashedly optimistic about the state of the housing market now and in the future.
Glassman, managing director and head economist for commercial banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, focused on jobs data to argue that the economic recovery is durable.
His other reasons:
• Millions of young adults who went back to college during the recession or are living with their parents will someday soon enter the housing market.
• Household formations are rising at a healthy clip.
• Housing starts are still running at about half the historic average, so there's plenty of room for growth.
• Though wages have been stagnant, growth is inevitable and that's going to enable both buyers and renters to trade up to more expensive digs.
Jim Buchta
